StealthyBlagga Posted July 10, 2017 Share Posted July 10, 2017 Can anyone share load data that produces sub-MOA groups with decent velocity using this bullet? I have tried a couple of different loads with AA2460, TAC and H335, but none have been overly impressive. I have AA2230 on hand too, but have not tried it yet. I did also shoot some Varget loads with indifferent results. Before I invest substantially more effort with the powders I have on hand, I am hoping someone can suggest a powder and load with which they have had good luck. I am loading for two rifles with 18" 1:8 5.56 barrels; one a Faxon Gunner and one a BCM SS410 Medium Contour. Both shoot sub-MOA with 55gr Nosler Ballistic Tips over 25.4gr of AA2460, so the guns are capable of good performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louu Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 The standard load (go to load) for the service rifle guys is the 77gr SMK at mag length (2.260) and 24gn of Varget. That's out of a 20"HBAR with a 1:7 twist. I have a bunch of them left over from my service rifle days and now use them for 3 gun at anything over 250 yards out of a stretch 16 1:8 twist. They are really accurate, check out this shot at 42 seconds I'm sure you know that Varget does not meter well out of a regular powder measure and each charge has to be weighed either the old school way or with an auto scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonytheTiger Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 Your results sound similar to mine. I tried TAC and 8208, SD and ES were very tight but speeds where low and accuracy was about MOA. For that particular rifle accuracy and speed were of paramount importance and my patience for load tweaking is minimal so I moved on to other bullets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted July 11, 2017 Share Posted July 11, 2017 AA 2520 is a speed King with the 77 grainers. I am getting 2850 out of a 20" barrel and 2750 out of an 18" sub moa! It is a ball powder and meters great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StealthyBlagga Posted July 11, 2017 Author Share Posted July 11, 2017 Thanks Kurt - I will pick up some AA 2520 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskapopo Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 I have found the tipped bullets to be less accurate than the normal Sierra match kings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 Don't know nothing about the accuracy thing but the "tipped bullets" sure don't penetrate as well as the OTM.....to the tune of only a couple of inches before the disintegrate, at least in pigs. The old style usually go 8"-10". I wouldn't use them for hunting anything except paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 30 minutes ago, kurtm said: Don't know nothing about the accuracy thing but the "tipped bullets" sure don't penetrate as well as the OTM.....to the tune of only a couple of inches before the disintegrate, at least in pigs. The old style usually go 8"-10". I wouldn't use them for hunting anything except paper. Maybe steel too...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Well, I don't know about steels. In general steels are much harder than pigs so it might not be a good choice for those either! I do know that they fail spectacularly in the penetration of non "shooting game" targets. Saw one ? get a 20 round mag dump at about 15 yards and it was still running just fine. It was finally anchored with a 308 165 grain Game King hollow point. (Best pig bullet ever!) Not one of the tipped 77 grain bullets had penetrated past the rib cage, just dimpled him up a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1chota Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 1 hour ago, kurtm said: Well, I don't know about steels. In general steels are much harder than pigs so it might not be a good choice for those either! I do know that they fail spectacularly in the penetration of non "shooting game" targets. Saw one ? get a 20 round mag dump at about 15 yards and it was still running just fine. It was finally anchored with a 308 165 grain Game King hollow point. (Best pig bullet ever!) Not one of the tipped 77 grain bullets had penetrated past the rib cage, just dimpled him up a bit! I bet that was last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtm Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 No, our friend already knew not to use those! He told me a very similar story involving a critter in West Texas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roy T Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Been working up a load for the 77's out of a 18. I have a shelf full of a lot of stuff I scrounged during the "powder shortage" Have not tried the AA stuff Kurt mentioned. I have also had a little better luck with the non-tipped match kings, had great results with some moly 69ers in match king. I went anal on some loads and metered them to the exact weight and used new Lapua brass just to see how small i could get the groups and show off to my hunting buddies breaking eggs at distance they eggs don't yield as much as a pig but you got to have eggs to go with the sausage or ham maybe bacon and down here grits is the other dish. Anyway back to the bullet thing Varget was slightly better groups with 8208 close behind if you don't plan to hand toss every load the 8208 meters much better. Since we tend to sling a bit more ammo down range close works for me. For some reason my other guns like different loads (kind of like girlfriends vs wives) so good luck in your efforts just be careful not to mix the girlfriends and the wife Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgrs Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 In limited load development, I have not gotten them to shoot as well as 77gr SMKs or even the bulk packed 77gr CCs with TAC or 8208. I loaded them up to 23.2gr 8208 (2687AV, 12SD) and 24.2gr TAC (2769 AV, 12.8SD) at 2.55 in WIN NT brass shot through a suppressed 18" Douglas barrel. I did not go higher with the 8208 because it was already starting to be a little crunchy seating. Didn't see any more pressure signs on the brass with the TAC load than my normal 77gr (24.3gr TAC) but it didn't shoot that great. I might try a couple strings at 24.3 TAC to see what happens as I use that weight and powder for literally everything else in .223. The piece that worries me is that with the TMKs there is a lot more bullet down in the case, so pressure just has to be getting bad... Love the idea of 8208, but I've only ever gotten it to show it's magic at slower speeds than I'd like. TAC has been cheap and great but gets a little squirrely with the heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonytheTiger Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 On 7/12/2017 at 5:41 PM, Alaskapopo said: I have found the tipped bullets to be less accurate than the normal Sierra match kings. That sounds like every honest reveiw of them that I've read, as well as my own experience. Every time I see someone happy with the way the TMK's shoot it turns out they consider 1 MOA acceptable. For 3 gun it probably is just fine, but the Hornady 75's shoot better on average at 2/3rds the price. And anyone loading for real precision work is not going to be ecstatic about MOA accuracy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mic2377 Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 Have of you guys used H4895? I have had great luck with this (as well as Varget, which sounds likes it wasn't working that great for you) with 75-77 gr bullets. It also seems to have a wider node for accuracy. It is still a stick powder though and not that great for bulk loading, however it is more temperature insensitive than TAC or AA2520. I am surprised Varget did not deliver, one of my standby loads has always been 23.5 gr of Varget under these heavies. And one last one to consider would be RL-15. It is hard to beat the performance per $$$ ratio of the Hornady 75 HPBT's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushmeat Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 On 7/10/2017 at 7:47 PM, StealthyBlagga said: Can anyone share load data that produces sub-MOA groups with decent velocity using this bullet? I have tried a couple of different loads with AA2460, TAC and H335, but none have been overly impressive. I have AA2230 on hand too, but have not tried it yet. I did also shoot some Varget loads with indifferent results. Before I invest substantially more effort with the powders I have on hand, I am hoping someone can suggest a powder and load with which they have had good luck. I am loading for two rifles with 18" 1:8 5.56 barrels; one a Faxon Gunner and one a BCM SS410 Medium Contour. Both shoot sub-MOA with 55gr Nosler Ballistic Tips over 25.4gr of AA2460, so the guns are capable of good performance. If you test at only 100 yards, you might be disappointed in the heavies. However, they come into their own at the longer ranges. I load the 77TMK long at 2.55 on top of 25gr of AA2460. 2800 fps out of an 18" AR. Sub-MOA at 200. If wind is steady and read right, it is sub-MOA to 500 yards. I load the 69TMK to mag length. It has a better BC than the 77SMK and can be pushed faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now